188 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



and ocean rates are also being studied in relation to the marketing 

 of agricultural products. Several special investigations and reports 

 have been made, including a study of the handling and reporting 

 of export shipments of Canadian wheat to and through the United 

 States, and of corresponding movements of American wheat to and 

 through Canada. The purpose of this study was to explain the 

 statistics of exports and imports as published by the two countries. 

 A beginning has been made in the analysis of the demand for 

 specific products in specific countries in a study of the consumption 

 of wheat in the United Kingdom and Italy, and the competition 

 of other countries in supplying the needs of these countries. 



FOREIGN CROPS AND MARKETS NEWS WIDELY DISTRIBUTED. 



Weekly reports of weather and crop conditions during the critical 

 season are sent to the international institute by naval radio. The 

 current foreign situation is given publicity through press releases 

 and radio several times weekly, and is summarized in Foreign Crops 

 and Markets, and selected materials appear weekly in Weather, 

 Crops, and Markets, 



Foreign Crops and Markets, a mimeographed circular, issued 

 weekly since March 1, 1922, contains the latest information available 

 on foreign crops and livestock, international trade in agricultural 

 products, prices of agricultural commodities, farm wages, and statis- 

 tics on consumption and other economic factors that enter into supply 

 and demand for agricultural commodities in foreign countries. It 

 has been used as a means of making available promptly statistical 

 and other information on foreign competition and demand. About 

 700 copies are circulated to agricultural economists, the press, farm, 

 and market organizations, agricultural colleges, libraries, and re- 

 search institutions. 



STATISTICS ON MOVEMENTS AND MARKET PRICES COMPILED. 



In the Market Statistics Section statistical data have been com- 

 piled, and a report is being printed covering the movements and 

 market prices, and in the case of a few commodities retail and 

 import prices, of the principal farm products, such as butter, cheese, 

 cotton, eggs, fruits, vegetables, grain, hay, feed, hides and skins, live- 

 stock, meats, milk, poultry, seeds, tobacco, and wool. Some work has 

 been done on compiling statistics on canned goods, sugar, drug plants, 

 nuts, and silk, 



PRICE TRENDS STUDIED. 



In a broad way these studies involve study of relation of pro- 

 duction to price, measurements of demand in relation to price, trends 

 of prices, and the interrelation of the problems of agriculture and 

 transportation. 



To furnish a scientific and objective basis for price forecasting 

 a new project was begun. A large part of the uncertainty attending 

 present forecasts of prices arises from the imperfections of our 

 knowledge of price relationships. Price changes and the series indi- 

 cating changes in the supply and demand factors are as a rule not 

 synchronous but occur with "lags. To determine the degree of these 

 relationships and their lags is the ultimate object of this analysis. 



